Six
by Sifl-senpai
Summary: An ice queen, a possessed savant, a religious leader, a man who fights the monsters himself, a ghost, and a woman trying to stay just out of reach of the long arm of the law. Pokemon is like any game- anyone can play.


She was raised behind a board and kept other people at bay with a line of chess pieces.

Strategy. That's all it took. Kill the king before your opponent kills yours- do it in as few moves as possible.

Or, pick off your opponent's pieces slowly, one by one. Wait for the space to open up, and then use it. It's simple. Bianca made it simple, much like her father made it simple when he told her brother, _I don't allow failures under my roof._

He was harsh and strict, like the weather in winter when it closed off the roads and made the game the only thing to do in a village that believed Pokemon were weapons, not living beings with thoughts and feelings.

Bianca's alabaster bishop triumphed against her opponent's. The black queen fell to a white rook- and on the final turn, her matching king surrendered to Bianca's forces.

She became, undisputedly, the highest paid chess player in the entire world by the age of seven.

"You're clever- I'll give you that," her opponent said. "But, careful. Some say smart kids like you turn into shrunken, ugly little Alakazam if you're not careful." She grinned. "People'd pay a lot of money to see _that_ happen."

"Thank you for the match," answered Bianca.

She won her first battle when she was eight. Too early to be a trainer, technically, but the smooth metal surface of the ball didn't feel so frightening in her hand compared to the flames around her and the beast that stood over her.

The Houndoom's master laughed as Bianca kicked the thing in the face to earn some space and threw out her father's Pawniard, like the ones that always lead the charges against her on the chessboard, as her only, meager defense.

Houndoom's master finished laughing. "Show her how fast you can melt that thing so she'll know what'll happen if she tries to run again."

The Pawniard, bewildered, valiantly put up an iron defense, but the heat of the black devildog's flames melted its metal forearms anyway. Its screams echoed in the hall with a cruel metal sound- and the Houndoom jerked away and shook its head in agitation.

Bianca screamed at it to slash away at the Houndoom with its melting metal claws, but it fell on deaf ears- the Pawniard slumped down on its malleable metal knees and shuddered in the face of death. But Bianca grabbed it by the back of its torso, screamed out as the hot metal destroyed the skin on her hands, and blinded the Houndoom with the molten pain dripping from Pawniard's misshapen metal limbs- until Pawniard took control again and tore at their foe like Bianca had asked the first time. When she commanded guillotine- twice- a moment later, it obeyed without question against both targets.

That was the first and only kidnapping attempt ever made on Bianca.

Her father began her career as a competitive trainer the moment she was discharged from the hospital.

Pawniard never battled again, but never left her side, either.

She lost in practice against her father once, and that was all. He would not allow anything else, and so her game got cleaner, and harder, and crueler. He lent her teams, and she learned to use them.

It was like chess- it was strategy. It was calculated. It was cold.

People from far and wide came to challenge Bianca and her pretty white soldiers, and her father was satisfied so long as she won. She got more pieces if she won. So, Bianca won.

The Pawn: Pachirisu she received as a gift from her mother. Bianca used it to take down a young man from Kanto with a collection of rocky creatures- mostly, because Pachirisu was all she had to use.

The Bishop: A fan sent her Seel with a note- " _Another piece for the Chessmaster"._ It was the first gift from a fan she ever kept. The Dewgong he became swam circles around the team of a man with a name that reminded Bianca of forests and crayons and envy.

The Rook: Following her trained Dewgong's debut, Absol arrived from the same return address as her first mystery gift- the second gift she ever kept.

The Knight: Sawbuck was a prize in a chess tournament, plain and simple. He wore winter fur eternally in his master's honor, even when spring and summer and fall adorned his antlers.

The King and the Queen: Ralts and Ralts her father brought to her as the result of a business trade. A book told Bianca that they could sense feelings. She made sure they proved quick to understand that, in her army, success was the only option. And so when a dragon tamer named Lance challenged her, Gardevoir reflected their flames and Gallade countered their rage and spared Dewgong the trouble of blasting them to nothing.

Most fell quickly. A woman with purple hair once challenged Bianca and her flying Pokemon all but fell from the sky.

Another woman dressed like an Umbreon offered more variety and played the long game, but she burned out before she reached the end.

It didn't matter. Bianca told every single one of them the same thing, always, without fail, and nothing else.

"Thank you for the match."

The first opponent to ever give her trouble- real trouble, this-is-not-part-of-the-plan trouble- was Alexander, both across from her on the chessboard and on the battlefield. His strategies on the board were wild and unpredictable, and he was just as likely to pull his punches as he was to turn around and go for broke. His only quirk was his relentless fish-eyed stare and the need to move a piece every turn, even when it was completely arbitrary. That, and he never spoke.

Alexander's play style was much the same on the battlefield, including the perplexing lack of spoken direction to his team. He only used four Pokemon in combat- and only actually needed to call out two of them before Bianca finally cracked his defenses and commanded her Gallade to cut through the rest of her opponent's forces in an all-or-nothing onslaught.

To his right, Alexander's Hypno looked more upset than the boy himself, who only stroked the equally dead-eyed Paras curled up in his lap.

"Thank you for the match," Bianca said, and left.

The second time they met, Alexander beat Bianca in chess, but lost on the battlefield. The Hypno crossed its arms and Paras snoozed on, untouched by battle.

"Thank you for," Bianca paused. Something, something pulled at her words and forced more out. "You could have won, you know."

Alexander kept his eyes on his Paras. Bianca had never heard him speak, and so assumed her words a waste of air. She turned on her heel to leave.

Then, Alexander surprised her. "How so?" He asked. His voice was higher than a seventeen-year-old's voice should be.

Bianca turned back around. Alexander had not looked up.

"If you had used that Paras, you would have won. Gallade hates bugs."

Alexander remained unresponsive. His Hypno maintained eye contact with Bianca, though.

"Excuse me? Did you hear me?"

Alexander kept his gaze low. "We don't make Paras fight."

"Why? What's the point of a Pokemon that doesn't fight if it's on your team?" She crossed her arms and slammed down a foot. "Sentimentality means nothing in the face of success. That Paras is a waste and a disgrace to your-"

"What about the Pawniard?" Alexander asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You could do a lot with steel on your side. But you don't."

"It is not my Pokemon. Pawniard is my father's."

"At your level, you could get a permit to carry seven."

Bianca crossed her arms. "Pawniard is not mine to carry."

"I've seen how it acts. It's yours, definitely. That's not why you don't use it."

"What?"

"Alexander feels similarly about Paras, so we don't use her."

Bianca shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. "What are you talking about? You haven't the manners to look me in the eye while we speak- surely you are laughing at me and hiding your face! Just because you bested me in chess does not give you permission to be rude."

"Oh," Alexander's mouth said, "but I am looking at you."

"You mock me?!" Bianca took a step forward and drew her hand back, poised to strike Alexander's cheek. But something stopped her fast and froze her in place. She struggled, and then screamed- or tried to, but something stopped her voice.

She stayed suspended for a few seconds, and then, once she stopped struggling, the Hypno stood, snapped its fingers, and watched as Bianca fell to the ground.

"Why don't you look at me when I'm talking to you?" The Hypno leaned down into Bianca's face, pupils glowing.

Bianca covered her mouth and alternated between coughing and gaping. "Are... you actually the trainer? Are you going to possess me?!"

"Heh. Hah! No, don't worry. It was very much Alexander you played in chess, and Alexander's direction you went up against in battle. I'm only a facilitator." The Hypno waved its hand in front of its face while Alexander spoke the words.

"Does... does he know?"

Hypno planted herself back on the ground with a thud and crossed her legs. "He's aware of everything happening right now, including what he's saying, and how angry he is that you insulted his Paras."

"You are controlling him!"

Hypno's eyes crinkled, and she cackled dryly while Alexander's mouth formed words. "Not as severely as your father controls you!"

Bianca screwed her mouth into a decided frown. "My father drives me to be as successful as I can be. Do not disrespect him."

"Have you ever left this region, beyond journeying to the occasional chess hall? Do you even have any friends?"

Bianca felt her blood rush to her face.

"You've never caught a single Pokemon, have you?" Hypno grinned and flashed a row of perfect, pointed teeth. "Can't say I am thrilled with everything about the practice, but, well. You haven't, have you?"

"Do not insult me."

"I'm not," Hypno said, rising and guiding the listless Alexander to his feet. "I am only saying what is true."

"Everything I need, I have learned, made, and won myself, with my father's help!"

The Hypno whipped her head around and displayed a swinging pendulum and a pair of glowing eyes. Bianca felt her eyes grow heavy and her legs grow weak.

A voice cut through the fog as Bianca slowly slipped under the cover of sleep. "Take a lesson from your chess, human. Don't surround yourself with yourself!"


End file.
